Week 4: Dinosaur Roar!

June 22-26     Dinosaur Roar!

Monday, June 22       Botanic Gardens - Prehistoric Pals- Family Room
                                   10 - 10:45 - 3/4K
                                   10:45 - 11:30 - Kindergarten

Tuesday, June 23        Dinosaur Egg Excavation
                                    9 - 9:45         3K
                                    9:45 - 10:30 4K
                                    10:30 - 11:15 K

Wednesday, June 24   Water Wednesday!

Thursday, June 25       Show and Tell!

Friday, June 26            Happy Times Petting Zoo!
                                     9:30 - 10   3K
                                     10 - 10:30 4K
                                     10:30 - 11 K

                                     Ice Cream Dream Machine!
                                     1:00 - K
                                     After nap: 3/4K

More Pickles and Jam!

It was a rainy, wet Friday, and we've been talking about the pickles and jam we made in Week 2 since we tried them.

Jonah's mom (3K) donated some pickling cucumbers from the Agriculture Center's Farmers Market

earlier in the week, so today we went to work!

We measured and mixed our Kosher salt (1 Tbs), sugar (1.5 Tbs), peppercorns (1/4 tsp - heaping), mustard seed (1/4 tsp - heaping), diced garlic (1 Tbs), vinegar (1/2 cup - white), fresh dill (approx 3-in. feathery piece) and 4 pickling cucumbers.

We gave a quart-sized jar to Mrs. McCoid (Jonah's mom) and kept a jar to taste-test at camp next week! We tweaked the recipe a bit, learner from our first experience, using a little less garlic.

Meanwhile in the 4K1 classroom we recreated the jam recipe from WK2 - using blueberries instead of strawberries this go round. 

We mashed the berries (1 2/3 cup)...

and mixed them with sugar (2/3 cup) and pectin (2 Tbs).

We put all three ingredients in a quart-sized glass jar and shook them, and then stirred, simply b/c I didn't bring a large bowl or spoon with me, so we made due. As my grandmother would say, "Necessity is the mother of invention."

I poured the jam into little jam jars and put them in the fridge to chill.

Next week, we'll enjoy our jam on bread and read the classic, Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey.

Birdfeeders for the Garden

Today, several of our older students made bird feeders using prickly pine cones,

shortening, and bird seed.

Students smeared the pinecones with shortening using big popsicle sticks.

and then rolled them in birdseed to complete the feeder.

It was messy, but fun!

Another fun, fine motor activity included 

stringing Cheerio's on pipe cleaners,

molding the finished product into interesting shapes to hang from the trees 

to feed our feathered friends. 

The Bug Guy Visits Camp

Today Stella Owens' (4K1) daddy visited to teach us all about insects!! 

Mr. Steve Owens works for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. 

He's a scientist and knows a lot about bugs!

We learned about insects, the food chain, pollution, and fossils. 

Mr. Owens brought a microscope and our young scientists examined tiny water bugs 

with lungs on the outside of their bodies;

They looked tiny in a dish without the aid of the microscope,

but under the lens, they were huge!!

We learned how to identify cicadas, watched a video of one molting from it's shell, and were able to hold a cicada (no longer alive!),

hold a cicada shell,

or scare our friends by hanging a cicada shell our shirts!!

There were test tubes of dragonfly nymphs (baby dragonflies) that could be creepy...

But Mr. Owens always makes us laugh!!

Our day was informative and fun!!

Many of our parents have interesting jobs!! Please let me know if you'd like to share your special talent with our campers this summer!!

The Big Slides - Water Wednesday!!

Today was the first of four Big Slide Water Wednesdays! 

Starting today, every other Wednesday, Memphis Bounce will grace our campus

with two large blow-ups including water. 

3/4K will be the first group to go down the slides- 

and run through the large slip n'slide between 8:45/9:45 a.m. 

(upcoming dates are: July 1, July 15, and July 29)

Butterfly Introduction - the Botanic Gardens!

This afternoon the Memphis Botanic Gardens made a visit to teach us about butterflies!

We learned about the life cycle of a butterfly - egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly.

We learned that butterfly wings have symmetry; both wings look exactly the same. 

We learned that butterflies taste with their feet and suck nectar with a proboscis.

We then practiced eating nectar like a butterfly, with our hands behind our backs and a straw to suck nectar (a teaspoon of sugar water).

We are waiting on our jars of caterpillars to arrive from Insect Lore so we can observe the butterfly metamorphosis.

Bug Hunt in the Garden

Today we took a trip to the garden in search of bugs!!

We turned over rocks and found roly polies,

worms, 

and a big stink bug and counted his 6 legs and 2 large antennae.